Major League Baseball

It's all about The pitching

Published Oct. 16, 2010 10:59 a.m. ET

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How does the Giants' rotation match up with the Phillies'?

San Francisco starters, less experienced but no less self-assured, might rephrase that question: How does the Phillies' rotation match up with the Giants'?

"They have big-name pitchers, but we also have big-name pitchers," Jonathan Sanchez said.

Matt Cain added, "If you go out there and relax and you're confident in yourself, you feel like you can pitch just as well as them."

And not just them. Tim Lincecum said the Giants "pitch as well as anybody."

If not better?

The National League Championship Series will go a long way toward determining which starters are superior. It starts tonight with an all-time classic postseason matchup, Lincecum vs. Roy Halladay. The two-time defending Cy Young Award winner against the guy likely to dethrone him.

"They said it's the Year of the Pitcher, didn't they?" asked Lincecum. "So it's still continuing."

If the Giants' young trio is the Big Three, then Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels are the Bigger Three. Bigger with service time, bigger with contractual status, bigger with postseason drama.

Lincecum threw a two-hitter in his first playoff start. Halladay threw a no-hitter.

Cain is 0-0 in his postseason career. Oswalt is 4-0.

On the left side, Sanchez pitched 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball against Atlanta last week. Hamels shut out the Reds - and was the MVP of both the NLCS and World Series in 2008.

But ...

These Giants starters need not accept second billing. They're not the poor man's Phillies. They're so rich with talent that the three, along with fourth starter Madison Bumgarner and a well-rounded bullpen, have carried a team without an overpowering offense to the threshold of the World Series.

As for the Phillies' guys, first baseman Aubrey Huff would like to make a point.

"The three starters we'll face, we've faced them all," Huff said. "We have an idea what they all have, and we've beaten all three at one point or another."

Exactly. Combined this season, Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt made seven starts against the Giants and went 1-5 with a 4.80 ERA.

The Petite Three?

A 21-game winner, Halladay faced the Giants once and gave up five runs in seven innings. In two starts, Hamels gave up nine runs in 11 innings. Oswalt lost to the Giants three times earlier in the season while still an Astro.

Don't be fooled, however.

Halladay is 0-2 with a 7.23 ERA in three career starts against the Giants, but the first two were in 2002 and 2004, and the only 2010 example was April 26, a 5-1 Giants victory in San Francisco in which Mark DeRosa and Eli Whiteside, of all people, knocked in four of the runs.

Oswalt's 1-3 record against the Giants also is misleading. He had a 3.33 ERA, a 1.037 WHIP and 22-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and all three losses came opposing Lincecum when Oswalt pitched for lowly Houston. Next time he faced the Giants, he was just as effective, but he was a Phillie and won 9-3.

Hamels? Yes, the Giants twice pounded him this season. That was then, this is now. After losing to the Giants on Aug. 19, he had a monster six-game run 5-0, 0.82 ERA. In his most recent start, he blanked the Reds, the league's best-hitting team, in their hitter-cozy yard.

So, yeah, 1-5 and 4.80 don't tell the entire story. When Halladay throws his first pitch at 4:57 p.m. PDT today, he'll still be baseball's top pitcher.

"I've faced him. I can't recall hitting a home run off of him or doing any damage off him," said Huff, who by far has the most experience among the Giants off Halladay .258 in 66 at-bats. "I've gotten my singles. He has that kind of stuff you'll take your singles. If you hit a home run off him, you're pretty lucky. Guys do it. Sometimes you wonder how they do it, but it happens."

Unlike the Phillies' top three starters, the Giants' have good 2010 numbers against their NLCS foes: 2-1 with a 1.98 ERA.

In April, Lincecum surrendered two runs one on a Ryan Howard homer in 8 1/3 innings, but Brian Wilson's first blown save cost the Giants in an 11-inning loss. Cain had a quality start in August, but the Giants surrendered three unearned runs and lost to Joe Blanton.

Sanchez twice beat the Phillies, 5-1 and 5-2, and fired eight strong innings in Philly on Aug. 19, prompting manager Bruce Bochy to flip-flop Sanchez with Cain - who has never beaten the Phils - to assure Sanchez, now the No. 2 starter, pitches at Citizens Bank Park.

"Their ballpark favors hitters," Sanchez said, "but as long as you keep them off balance, it's hard for them to drive the ball off you."

The teams split six games during the season, and now comes a best-of-seven. It's Lincecum-Halladay in Game 1, Sanchez-Oswalt in Game 2, Cain-Hamels in Game 3 and probably Bumgarner-Blanton in Game 4.

"Pitching takes us everywhere we go," Huff said. "Top to bottom. Our starters and bullpen. Especially the second half. Our motto the whole year is 'score three.' Or maybe four. If we score four, our record's been pretty good."

As in 69-12.

"Testament to our pitching and defense," Huff said. "Score four runs and let our pitching take over."

After Huff, Pat Burrell has faced Halladay the most 6-for-18, followed by Juan Uribe 4-for-18 and Cody Ross 3-for-16. Whiteside is the only Giant to have homered off Halladay.

Howard is toughest on Lincecum 6-for-19, three homers, and Jayson Werth is 3-for-9 with a homer. On the other hand: Chase Utley 2-for-20, one homer, eight strikeouts, Shane Victorino 4-for-21, one homer, five K's, Jimmy Rollins 3-for-18, four K's and Raul Iba?ez 1-for-10, five strikeouts.

The Phillies must be thrilled Lincecum has perfected a slider since their last face-off.

On both sides, the starters are well-rested and confident. Of course, it's not about facing each other as much as facing the opposing lineup. As Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti said, "They're battling the whole team. They've got enough to worry about already than worrying about the other pitcher. They assume the other guy will pitch well because they're this far into the playoffs."

Regardless, Righetti said, the Giants' starters match up with their more experienced counterparts.

"They have to," he said. "Our guys are a confident bunch and very proud bunch. They feel they can compete with them, no doubt about it."

The starting rotations for the Giants and Phillies excelled in their respective Division Series. Their performances were in step with the starting pitching the teams got all season. Here are two stats that indicate how strong the starters were during the regular season.

He's set to start Game 2 of the NLCS after this superb showing in Game 3 of the NLDS:

He will be the Game 3 starter in the NLCS after a solid Game 2 in the NLDS:

He was the weak link in the Phillies' NLDS rotation with this performance in Game 2:

He wrapped up the Phillies' NLDS sweep of the Reds with a Game 3 shutout:

In the National League Division Series, the Phillies swept the Reds with help from two outstanding starts. The Giants got four good starts in beating the Braves 3-1. Here is a look at the Division Series starts of each team's top three pitchers, with special attention paid to the No. 1 starters' historic performances.

1 - Orlando Cabrera, batting second, gives Halladay a tough test - a seven-pitch at-bat that ends with a deep flyout to center.

H-0, BB-0, K-0

2 - First strikeout, of Scott Rolen, and in the bottom half, Halladay gets an RBI and scores a run.

H-0, BB-0, K-1

3 - With Phillies up 4-0, nine pitches - five strikes, one ball, three outs.

H-0, BB-0, K-0

4 - Brandon Phillips is first Red to get count to two balls since Cabrera in the first.

H-0, BB-0, K-2

5 - Jay Bruce gets count to 3-2, then walks to spoil perfect game.

H-o, BB-1, K-2

6 - Eight pitches for shortest inning yet.

H-0, BB-0, K-0

7 - Cabrera works an eight-pitch at-bat - all for naught.

H-o, BB-o, K-1

8 - Two strikeouts on three pitches each, and a one-pitch groundout - best inning of night.

H-0, BB-0, K-2

9 - Catcher Carlos Ruiz jumps on nubber in front of plate and throws out Brandon Phillips from his knees to seal no-hitter.

H-0, BB-0, K-0

He two-hit the Braves in Game 1 of the Giants' Division Series:

1 - Omar Infante blasts fifth pitch of game to deep center for a double.

H-1, BB-0, K-2

2 - Three strikeouts, each on three swings-and-misses, for five straight K's.

H-0, BB-0, K-3

3 - Seven pitches for shortest inning of game.

H-0, BB-0, K-1

4 - Inning opens with only walk, to Jason Heyward. Giants score their one run in bottom half.

H-0, BB-1, K-0

5 - Deep fly to center by Matt Diaz constitutes threat.

H-0, BB-0, K-1

6 - Two more swinging strikeouts make nine K's total.

H-0, BB-0, K-2

7 - Brian McCann's double is Braves' final hit.

H-1, BB-o, K-1

8 - Two more swing-and-miss strikeouts set franchise mark for postseason K's.

H-0, BB-0, K-2

9 - Called strike three on Derrek Lee completes the masterpiece.

H-0, BB-0, K-2

The NL's best pitcher this year has struggled in the past against the Giants. In the NLDS, he threw a no-hitter against the Reds.

The reigning two-time Cy Young Award winner pitched well against the Phillies in April in a losing cause. His last start was a 14-strikeout gem against the Braves in the NLDS.

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